Young and free
by AnadoraBlack
Summary: Follows the events of The Force Awakens. Hidden on Naboo, Cas Andé had not seen much of the war between the First Order and the Resistance. Until her mother decides that a trip to Takodana is in order... Did I mention Cas' mother was a Jedi?
1. Hidden in plain sight

_A/N: Hello everyone! For all those who know me, I am a huge Star Wars fan, and The Force Awakens did nothing to dim my LOVE for that universe. A while back, I had written two trilogies for the By the moons saga, in which I introduced one of the OCs of this story, Tani Kenobi. She is not, however, central to this piece and you can follow this without knowing much about her at first. :)_

 _I intend for this to be a trilogy as well, but as the other two films will come out in two and four years time, I will try to leave the ending as open as I can. And then we'll see. :D_

 _But for the time being, here are the first two chapters of this story! Don't forget to review!_

* * *

 _ **Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars or any of its characters. I only own my OCs Cas, Tani and Sehr along with the plot of this story.**_

* * *

 **1\. Hidden in plain sight**

* * *

The speeder had stopped in the middle of a clearing filled with flowers in this early spring. Two figures had jumped out of it, rolling in the grass in a disarray of limbs and clothes that flew everywhere.

Later on, both would give an excuse as for their lateness. And would never see each other again.

The planet was Naboo, green and blue Naboo, which had been the stage of many battles in History. Yet, after the Empire had been destroyed, the quiet planet had been forgotten, left to fend for itself even when the First Order rose from the ashes of Palpatine and the Resistance rose from those of the Rebellion.

Not that it had been conquered by either, no. It was just doomed to see all things come and go to its peaceful scenery, and to evolve on its own, abandoned by all and by everything.

Which is probably why Cas was living there.

* * *

Cas was currently sighing in pleasure in the arms of a young mechanic she had had her eye on since the last time she had gone to the former capital Theed for parts for her speeder.

But this is not important.

At 27 years of age, Cas Andé was not, contrarily to common belief, born on Naboo. If asked, of course, she was. But in truth, she had forgotten where she was born. She only knew it was far from being as green as her for-now home.

Cas was not tall, but was pretty, which was a definite asset in the Universe. She had short and spiky brown hair that she liked to braid close to the skull in a fashion not seen in those parts since the ancient time of Queens; but her most interesting feature was her eyes, which she had purple. The kind of colour that bore through your soul everytime you gazed into it.

Her prettiness was somehow dimmed by the way she dressed, though. As obsessed with mechanics and any kind of manual work as she was, she was barely seen with clean clothes at all. She never parted from a pair of black leather breeches over which she wore a heavy utility belt filled with tools, and a torn tunic that would have been white but that was closer to brown after time. All in all, nothing that showed her feminine forms at all.

* * *

The sun had begun to set and to cast a shadow over the forest when Cas retreated to her and her mother's cabin.

Not that the woman she lived with was really her mother. She had raised her as such, yes, but they didn't share blood. And Cas made sure to remind her of it anytime she threw a tantrum. Which was often. Too often.

"Ma! I'm here!" she launched in the kitchen before grabbing a spoon and tasting the stew cooking on the stove. She wrinkled her nose and added a pinch of salt. Her Ma had never been very good with cooking.

Another figure entered the room, but it wasn't Cas' mother. It was a tall Gungan who had laced his dangling ears behind his head and who was carrying a pile of books he set on the table before sitting before it. "Good evening Cas," he said, and she smiled widely before sitting with him.

The Gungan was in all but blood her Uncle. He had seen her grow up and had welcomed her and her mother into his forest home when they had needed it most. Sehr was a scholar, one of the few of his people, and unlike most amphibians, he spoke Basic without one hint of an accent. "Hey. Still searching for that...Moff, was it?"

"Yes, your mother helped a little with what she knew, of course, but I still can't find any record on the end of his commission..." Sehr was specializing in the Dark Times, or so they had caught to call the times when the Empire had ruled over the galaxy. And Cas' mother was very good at remembering things.

* * *

The third part of their strange family entered the kitchen with a bundle of freshly laundered clothes. Her long grey hair still retained some strands of ginger, and the wrinkles on her face could not hide the youth of her blue eyes.

The woman looked at her daughter with a slight scowl, but did not comment on the state of her clothes or the mess of her hair. There was no need. The youngling's aura breathed of what she had just been doing.

Cas greeted her with a kiss on the cheek, then seemed to remember something. She got up and walked to a tiny chest under a cabinet, and grabbed a shiny object within. "Hey, I found this in my room this morning. You should be careful with it, it fell quite hard this time." She launched the object in the air, not even bothering to aim.

There was like a tingling in the air when the woman outstretched her hand and called the object to her. It flew towards her with a buzz, and she smiled when it made contact with her skin. "Thank you, darling."

And then she put it back at her belt, the hilt of the old weapon shining there through the beige tunic.

"Oh, Tani," Sehr suddenly said, "by the way, I found a record about your mother over here."

She turned her head, and smiled a bit, even if a shadow of sadness had passed over her eyes. "I'll have a look at it later."

And then Tani Kenobi went back to her dinner-making...


	2. Peace and quiet

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars or any of its characters. I only own my OCs Cas, Tani and Sehr along with the plot of this story.**_

* * *

 **2\. Peace and quiet**

* * *

 _Pain. Pain. Pain._

 _That's all Cas could feel as her eyes fell on the scene ten feet below. She could hear the screams, feel the pain, feel the agony, see the darkened figures crumple under the rain as the red flash of a lightsabre cut through flesh and bones._

 _A voice then. A hand, closing around her wrist. "Cas, come!"_

 _The youngling turned to see the livid face of her Master, Master Kenobi, who had been teaching her the ways of the Force when hell got loose. She shook her head, but the grown-up woman was stronger than her, and pulled her out of the way of the window and out of sight._

 _Pain. Loss. Fear. Suffering._

 _Her Master turned to her and smiled sadly. "Close your mind, Cas. These feelings only bring more pain, and bring hatred on top of it. You would not want to walk that path._

 _Cas looked blankly at the ginger woman, her blue eyes filled with tears, and wiped angrily at her own. Purple eyes shone with something akin to courage, but that was still laced with too much fear. "Let's go."_

* * *

Cas sat up in her bed, sighing in displeasure when she realised it was still the dead of night. She passed a hand over her brow to wipe at the cold sweat there, and flung her legs over the edge of the matress, revelling in the feeling of the cold tiles against her skin.

Another vision.

She had always had these strange memories of a time that she had shut from her mind. Sometimes they were clearer, sometimes they were just blurry. Those blurry visions, Tani had said, were visions of futures not yet come to pass. But Cas did not want to hear about that.

When Tani and Cas had landed on Naboo, the twelve year-old was in shock. She remembered the grief, the anger, the pain. She could remember the nights she could not sleep, the potions that Tani gave her to soothe her thoughts.

She remembered objects flying around her and crashing into walls or, sometimes, into people.

But no more of that now.

Cas was Force-Sensitive. Tani did not give her much more explanations during the years than that. Cas, of course, knew that her adoptive mother was, or had been, a Jedi Knight. A Master even. The lightsabre she brought with her everywhere was a reminder of that. Cas had played with it once or twice when she was younger, but never since.

She remembered the green beam of light, and shuddered. Green, blue or red, those blades could cut. Could kill.

* * *

Cas cursed and got up, pacing around the room until she decided she could not sleep anymore. She grabbed her jacket and exited the room, taking quiet strides as she passed Tani's room. Even asleep, a Jedi could feel other Force-Sensitives. Bloody useful.

The brown-haired girl strolled to the kitchen, grabbing a wild fruit as she exited the cabin and walked towards the shed where her speeder was kept hidden. She grabbed a toolbox and started working on the ignition for the umpteenth time.

Her thoughts were buzzing, as well as a strange feeling in her gut. She had had those feelings only twice in her life: just before a bomb destroyed most of Theed; and a few days before it was announced that Nal Hutta had been blown up by a mysterious beam of light.

Again, Tani had said that it was the Force calling to Cas, but she had not listened, had refused to, and had refused to think that that scorching feeling she felt when all those people died was linked somehow to that failing thing called Force.

Where was the Force when she was taken from her home, barely a child, abandoned and lonely? Where was it when she had those visions that left her crying for days and refusing to eat? Where was it when all those innocent people died?

Cas hated nothing more than she hated the Force. Tani had tried countless times to soothe her adoptive daughter's mind, to teach her how to meditate and feel peaceful again, but the fire in Cas' veins could not be quenched. The shock was too fresh. And when it wasn't, then it was too traumatic.

* * *

The sun had risen in the sky and saw Cas asleep against her speeder. Tani found her like this, a sad smile on her lips when she felt the turmoil still present in the girl's mind. She Force-pulled a relatively clean blanket from a nearby shelf and made it hover to Cas to cover her as best as it could without disturbing her slumber.

Master Tani Kenobi had not been spared by the latest years of her life. The ring that lay on a string around her neck was proof of it, as was the emptiness in her heart where two bright flames had once burnt fiercely.

She knew what Cas had dreamt about. That night, that fearful and fateful night when everything had changed. She remembered the pain, the anger that overtook her heart, the shame, then the strong, encompassing need to keep the child in her care safe. Nothing else mattered. Not even the ring on her finger or the second flame in her heart.

Tani Kenobi hated herself for fleeing that day. She also hated the fact that she fled without a word to anyone. She hated it, and she hated herself even more for not being able to keep the candle of Cas' abilities alight.

She exited the scene with a tearful eye that was caught by Sehr as he left for his morning stroll. The Gungan did not say a word, but Tani knew her confident didn't need it. He knew everything already.

* * *

Cas rode her speeder to Theed again that day. Not to see the boy from the day before, he was all but forgotten, but to visit a place she scarcely did anymore: the Library.

Theed had been almost entirely destroyed by the terrorist attacks it had sustained almost ten years prior, but thanks to the general archives saved deep under the city, most of the written records had been kept safe.

The young woman went to her favourite spot, the furthest chair from the door, from which she could see everyone arrive. She didn't like to have anyone behind her back.

That day, her studies mostly concerned the Empire and its imperial destroyers. She had studied the TIE fighters from inside and out, being able to recite each of its parts by heart at the age of sixteen, but she had always been fascinated by the big planet-eaters.

The Executor, in particular, former ship of Darth Vader, a Dark Lord of the Sith who had died long before she was born, caught her eye as being frightfully magnificent. Everything, from its design to its interior, was perfectly proportioned. But of course, Cas was mostly interested in the technical, flying part. And was disappointed to learn that no real pilot was needed on such vessels.

* * *

"Interested in History, eh?"

Cas' eyes rose from the book and she met the stranger's over the page. His own dull brown eyes widened when meeting her purple ones, but his smile only widened at the sight.

She shrugged. "Interested in ships, more like."

He was not handsome, that guy. Nor ugly, really, just boring. No need to flirt then. Although _he_ seemed to think there _was_ a need. "I could help if you want to visit one of those..." He breathed and tried to look more important, taller, than he was. "I work on one."

Cas' brow rose. "Really? On an imperial destroyer?" The sarcasm in her voice was evident.

"Well, just so you know," he started as if talking to a particularly stupid kid, "there are called First Order destroyers, now. And yes, I do work on one of those." Cas did not answer. The First Order. She really did not like the sound of that. At all. "I'm on permission, you see. Good conduct and all. Been home for a day, but I longed for company..."

Cas laughed at his bluntness, but she felt this gut-thing again, this need to know more. "And what's that First Order thing doing nowadays?" she slurred in her best flirting voice.

The imperial - First Order, whatever - smiled a big toothy smile that made him look even more boring, and continued in a husky voice more suited to a Wookiee, "Classified."

"Oh, come now, maybe I am interested in joining! Do they need pilots?"

"Pilots and other things," he said suggestively, and Cas inwardly puked. "I guess I can tell you, if you promise me to keep it secret."

"Of course."

"Well, there's this guy, right, this Kylo Ren, he's some sort of...Knight, or whatever. Force thing, never understood-" Cas' heart missed a beat, "-he's kinda our chief now, and he's looking for someone. Another Force-guy, but...other side."

Cas nodded as if this was the most entertaining story ever. "And...this Kylo Ren...where is he now? Maybe he could hire me!"

The officer - because that bastard had an effing medal on his uniform - chuckled. "Oh, sweet girl, sweet naive and innocent girl, Kylo Ren will not hire you. He would bed you, yes, or kill you, but not hire you. Besides, he's on his way somewhere now. Takodana, half a galaxy away." He leaned in. "But _I'm_ right here."

Cas stopped herself from snorting. The gut-thing had come back full-force. She felt something so strong stirring inside her that she stood abruptly, startling the stranger, and made her leave the room without a look back. She dazingly returned home, not paying attention to the road, really, just focussing on this foreboding feeling in her stomach that grew and coiled like a snake, needing freedom.

* * *

"Ma!" she shouted as she reached the cabin. " _Ma!_ "

Tani erupted from the house, hand on her sabre's hilt at the alarm in her daughter's voice. "Cas? What is it?"

The girl reached her and grabbed her free hand, placing it on her own stomach. "I feel something here. It's strong and I don't like it."

Tani's blue eyes widened at that. Cas never consulted her for anything Force-related anymore, it was the first time in years. And she could feel the turmoil inside her, the confusion, the fear also. She tugged the girl inside. "Come."

They both ignored Sehr's questioning gaze as they reached Cas' room. Tani pushed her daughter onto the bed and demanded she leaned down.

"Close your eyes," she commanded, and Cas complied, a pained frown on her face, "and focus on what you heard, felt, saw. Feel it, relive it, and let me in."

Cas could see the officer again, could feel her repulsion at him. She could see his smile, could hear his voice...and she could feel the softest of nudges at the back of her head, and suddenly, a thought. _Let me in..._

Cas realised it was Tani's voice, that she was invading her mind to see her memories, and for a second she tensed, placing mental barriers around herself until she felt the gentle caress of a hand on her arm and of a soul against her own.

She lowered the barriers and felt Tani again, her blue aura and the sadness that clung to her even then. She focussed on the Library and what she learnt, _Kylo Ren, the First Order, a search, Takodana_...

Tani gasped and suddenly was gone. Cas sat up in her bed, seeing her mother fall at her feet onto the covers, a hand on her heart. Or was it on the ring she wore as a necklace?

"Takodana..." she whispered. "There is only one reason they'd go there... _Maz._ "

Cas had never heard of a maz, did not know what it was, but she did not like the sound of urgency in her mother's voice. "What do we do?"

Tani's eyes locked on hers, and she smiled sadly. "I can't ask that of you. You can stay, if you wish. But I must go. I have hidden here far too long."

Cas sat up straighter. "Where are we going?"

* * *

 _A/N:Next chapter comes in two weeks! Don't forget to review until then! ;)_


	3. Journey through the land

_A/N: Hi there! I'd like to take a minute to thank those who have already put alerts on this work and especially the first ever reviewer! I rarely answer personally to those reviews, but I always take time to read them in-between two customers at work. ;) So thank you so much on your end for taking time to write a few words. They're really appreciated. :)_

 _Anywho, here comes the next chapter, hope you enjoy!_

* * *

 _ **Disclaimer:**_ _ **I do not own Star Wars or any of its characters. I only own my OCs Cas, Tani and Sehr along with the plot of this story.**_

* * *

 **3\. Journey through the land**

* * *

When the decision was made to leave, Tani and Cas went to Sehr to announce their wish to go to the rescue of whomever Maz was - apparently, an old friend of the Jedi. The Gungan refused vehemently to let them leave alone, to Tani's displease.

"Sehr, this is not a thing for bookworms! There is a war outside of Naboo, hell, there is one in Theed already!"

Cas winced. She had never seen her mother so burned up by something, but the fierceness with which she was protecting her old friend told her that this was not the first time she was in this position. And it struck her how little she knew of her saviour's life.

Not that she had asked.

Her Uncle rose to his feet, towering over the small human female before him, not looking frightening, but determined. "I do not forget, Tani. I was there 40 years ago. I was there when Alderaan was destroyed. I was not always recluse, dear friend. I used to be an emissary to my people. But those days are long gone now. Too few of my kin remains loyal to the Republic." He took a deep breath. "I will go with you because there is nothing left here for me if you are not there."

Cas coughed in embarrassment. That was as close of a declaration of love as her uncle had ever come. And judging by Tani's shock, she was as stunned as her.

She fiddled with the wrench at her belt. "Maybe Uncle Sehr can find a job in the New Republic."

Sehr smiled down at her in gratitude, and Tani cleared her throat, changing the subject. "We'll need another ship. I was counting on my old shuttle to suffice."

Sehr shook his head. "I'll buy a ship in Theed tomorrow. Cas can pilot your shuttle. She has the abilities."

Tani's blue eyes widened in fear. "Sehr! It is a Jedi shuttle!"

Cas' head whipped up at that. "Jedi? You have kept a _Jedi ship_ here?" She was hurt, never to have known about it. Even more hurt that Tani did not think her talented enough to pilot it properly.

Tani looked at her sadly. "It has remained hidden. The colour...the shape...would have caught too much attention. I don't even know if it still can fly..."

"I can take care of that. I can do that at least." There was a little venom in her voice, but Cas also felt excitement upon leaving Naboo and running off into adventure.

Sehr placed a hand on Tani's shoulder. "It is time, old friend. Show her the ship, Tani."

* * *

Cas was led by her mother a little further into the forest, down a path she did not remember taking. Tani strode fast, and there was an aura of uncertainty and fear around her. Cas did not know why she could perceive it, but she had a feeling it was because the Jedi was broadcasting strongly.

There, under a cover of leaves and moss that had grown around it like a second skin, lay a Jedi shuttle, remain of a time when the New Order had just risen from the ashes the Empire had thrown it into. Its colour had faded into a dull red, but it should have once been radiant.

On its wings, Cas could see the symbol of the Rebellion, and Tani ran her fingers on it as she cleared the last remnants of leaves. She was nostalgic now, and she was remembering good memories too. Cas could feel it. She placed a hand on her mother's shoulder and the woman shuddered before placing her own hand on top of Cas'. "I'm sorry, it...I have not seen it in a long time."

"It's alright Ma..." she said, even if the war inside her mother's head did not make sense to her at all. "Let's see how this old lady is doing."

* * *

It appeared that the shuttle needed few repairs. Some roots had grown into one of the rotors, but that was an easy fix; and the power converters had long since lost all their power, but in a few hours, it was ready to go.

Sehr had been adamant: he was going. So on the morning that followed, the Gungan came back having landed a little merchant ship he had purchased with what money he had made teaching. There was no going back.

Tani appeared insecure all morning as they packed what little they wished to bring with them - sentimental belongings and supplies, mostly - and Cas knew what she was unsure of: her taking the shuttle.

"Ma, I can pilot it. It's not that complicated."

Tani turned from where she had been placing a parcel of dried food in the cockpit of her old ship, and sighed. "I know, darling, it's just that... If we get caught by First Order ships, they'll aim at you first."

Cas smirked. "Let them try."

Sehr chuckled in amusement, but Tani's eyes grew cold and black, almost in anger. The Gungan gently pulled her away from the Jedi ship and from her daughter, and soothed her with quiet words she soon seemed to agree with.

* * *

Cas was too excited to hide it. Piloting a Jedi shuttle was an exciting prospect, and if was being honest with herself, she had to admit that she would _love_ to run into any First Order scum to just shoot them. But she would never say that aloud. Tani would _kill_ her.

They left as the sun reached its highest peak. Sehr was not a good pilot, but would be an adequate co-pilot. He took place into the shuttle after a brief hug to Cas, who walked to the Jedi ship with a mixture of excitement and fear in her veins.

Tani walked her to it, placing a gentle hand on the nose of the ship with the same glint of nostalgia in her blue eyes. Cas hugged her tight, reassuring her again about her ability to push back any First Order battalion, and climbed the ladder to sit inside the cockpit.

As soon as she was seated though, her eyes went to her mother's, and her mouth opened in a silent gasp. "I've been here before."

Tani smiled sadly and nodded. "You used to call it 'Auntie'."

Cas smiled, the memory springing to her mind from a corner where she had hidden it so long that it had faded away, and then she put the tiny comlink mic on her head and smiled at her mother as the lid of he cockpit closed over her head.

* * *

 _"Cas, hold on!" Tani was saying as they crossed a meteor field._

 _The child gripped the sides of the ship as tight at she could not to be thrown into the air. She heard a bleep of fear as their droid was blown into oblivion, and she felt tears spring to her eyes. "Master, I'm scared..."_

 _Tani turned the head slightly, and her soul touched the child's, sharing in the pain and fear but distillating some hope and calm into her as well. "Me too, darling, me too."_

 _The ship turned sharply to the right to avoid a bigger meteor than the other, and suddenly they were out in the open again._

 _Before them blinked the light of a star, several planets revolving around it in a perfect dance. Tani pointed at one blue planet, looking peaceful and quiet. "This is Naboo. Our new home."_

* * *

Naboo soon became a small dot on the back of a screen as Cas and Tani directed their ships out of the atmosphere and into the big wild space. Cas did not really remember flying off planet before, so for her, it was almost a first.

She found herself slightly disappointed with the lack of life of the outside space, but found herself enjoying it all the same. She tried one or two flips to try the flexibility of the ship, much to her mother's displease, and found that she really liked flying into outer space compared to the restrains of the forest and its trees.

" _Cas, do you copy?_ " came her mother's voice after Naboo was far behind.

" _I do._ "

" _We are going to head for an old hyperspace corridor. Hopefully it is still open. Takodana should be about three hours from Malastar._ "

Cas inwardly nodded. " _Just tell me, I'll be ready._ "

Tani hummed. " _Just...put yourself in stealth mode, darling, I'll feel better._ "

Cas chuckled, but pushed the button that jammed any other ship's radar so she was almost invisible. " _Done._ "

" _Thank you._ "

Cas could feel even from afar her mother's worry, but there was something else lying underneath, something she could not really pinpoint. She was...impatient? Could it be that someone was waiting for Tani on Takodana? Could it be that that Maz was more than a friend?

Cas felt like their leaving Naboo would reveal a lot of things about her mother's past, and if she was excited at the prospect, there also was a definite part of her that felt uncomfortable...

* * *

The old hyperspace corridor Tani had been talking about was apparently still up and running, if the impressive number of merchant ships using it was any clue. They entered it quietly, without any fuss, and Cas let herself be lulled by the lights shining and whirling around her shuttle.

She found herself dreaming of a time when she liked those lights. She found herself remembering an ancient memory, something that had been so repressed that she didn't even know how old it was.

* * *

 _She was lying down in a ship and looking up, and the feelings that went through her were raw and unleashed. Happiness was the most recognizable, but also curiosity. There were the lights and the humming of a ship, and a tiny tiny hand rose in the air to try and catch the pretty light._

 _"Aw, my precious, look at that, it's pretty isn't it?" said a voice not far, and Cas felt a surge of affection go through her. She could not see the person, though the voice was definitely feminine. She heard, no, made a sound, like a coo, and then the memory faded._

Cas opened her eyes. Had it been her mother? Her real mother?

* * *

Takodana was a green and blue planet. Naboo was more blue, it was more green. There stopped the comparison.

" _Cas? Follow us and don't stray. Something is wrong._ "

Cas nodded to herself. Something was wrong indeed. She could see several ships on the other side of the planet, although she did not know if they were Resistance or First Order. From the beams of light that erupted from some of them, she guessed both.

Her mother's shuttle headed straight for the planet, as if Tani knew exactly where she was going, and Cas followed, spreading the width of her wings to enter the atmosphere.

Then came the gasp through the comlink, the curse, and the warning.

" _Cas, head out! They are here!_ "

Cas ignored her mother's warning and looked down, blood boiling in her veins as a certain fire rose there.

TIE fighters.

And X-wings.

They had landed in the middle of a battle.


	4. Troublemaking

_A/N: Hello there! I dunno if a lot of people is already reading this or not, but I'll carry on anyway, especially since this chapter is Cas' first introduction to most of the cast. :)_

* * *

 _ **Disclaimer:**_ _ **I do not own Star Wars or any of its characters. I only own my OCs Cas, Tani and Sehr along with the plot of this story.**_

* * *

 **4\. Troublemaking**

* * *

Cas didn't heed her mother's advice. While the shuttle turned away from the fight and went to land safely into the forest, she directed the Jedi fighter right into it.

Below her, she could see the ruins of an old stone building, and in the rubble, people fighting. She could see beams of red light from the blasters, and thought she saw a strange blue hue once before she had to focus onto the mess she had driven into.

"Shit" she cursed as a TIE started chasing after her.

In moments like these, Cas was glad she had some sort of link to the Force. She could feel the bastard behind her without having to use her radar, knew when and how to flip, and soon, the faded red ship started showing acrobatics the TIE could barely follow.

It fell down, struck by a beam of plasma, when she flipped her ship upside down and faced him again.

"Woohoo!" she launched into thin air. She had never flown like that before, ever. Her only flying had been on land-speeders back home, and she had never shot anyone either.

A sudden wave of discomfort took over her as she realised the ship she had just shot down had a pilot. Who was most likely dead.

" _Cas, where the hell are you?_ " she heard her mother's call not a second later. Tani was angry, no seething, and Cas felt like this was probably the right time to actually do what she was supposed to do and go hide somewhere safe.

" _I got...delayed. Coming._ "

" _You better, young lady._ " She heard over the com a strange buzzing, and her blood started boiling when she understood what it was. A lightsaber.

* * *

Cas directed her ship towards the forest too, but did take care of a couple more TIE fighters before she did.

And could not miss the X-wing flying as if it was a freaking bird and taking out many more enemies than the rest of its squad altogether. She got distracted when the pilot made a rather impressive acrobatic, and she found herself whistling in appreciation. That was one hell of a pilot.

Following her instinct, she reached for her mother's signature through the Force and landed right next to the shuttle. Sehr was still half inside the ship, pointing a blaster at the trees in a vague attempt to protect himself.

Cas grabbed her own blaster - well, not really, just...the blaster that was in the cockpit - and joined the Gungan. "Uncle, where's Ma?"

Sehr was frozen, but with a nod of his head, he directed her where she could hear a great deal of buzzing and blasting.

What she saw when she reached the source was a sight she was never going to forget.

* * *

Tani was flying, there was no other word for it. The six Stormtroopers that had taken to fighting her were all falling one after the other as her blue lightsaber whirled into the air into complex motions no one could ever recover from.

Cas stared, open-mouthed, and thought for a second that her mother was a freaking badass.

Then she saw another group of white-wearing bastards coming their way and she decided she too wanted her fun.

"Ma?" she said as she took her place next to the Jedi Master.

Tani's eyes were black, a sight she had never seen before. The blade in her hand gave her an almost mad look, and Cas felt as though her mother was an angel from Death.

"Stay close. I'll deflect most of the blasts."

That was before the same X-wing as before came barging into view and started bloody taking down the Stormtroopers. Without touching either of them once.

Cas stared after the ship. "Well kill me now, that bastard can shoot."

"Language," Tani said just has her blade retracted with a hissing sound. Or maybe that was her, as she checked on a blast wound just over her wrist.

"Ma!" Cas said in alarm, but her eyes widened as she saw that it was actually not flesh under the skin, but...wires? "Ma? What in the freaking-"

There was another blast, up close, and both women moved towards the centre of the ruins just as a menacing-looking shuttle took off, its wings spreading like a bat's. Tani's eyes squinted in anger, as if she knew who that ship belonged to, until she pressed her comlink to her lips. "Sehr, all clear, come over here."

* * *

They walked through rubble and pillars and wires and bodies, which made Cas' toes curl in her boots, until they reached a strange kind of ship that had just landed.

Before it stood four...people?

Well, one was a tall bear-looking being carrying a crossbow - or what looked like it; the second one was an average-looking boy with dark skin and a leather jacket that looked strangely fitting on him; and the last two were a man and a woman currently standing too close to each other for them to be strangers.

"Leia! Han! Chewie!" Tani called, and Cas stopped in her steps in shock. Her mother knew these guys?

The couple stepped away from each other. The woman, petite, with greying brown hair and dark eyes, gasped just as the taller woman reached her. Their arms closed around each other and they seemed to tell each other something Cas did not catch from that distance.

Then the man, with his leather jacket and rugged look, pulled Tani from the woman's arms and hugged her so tight Tani thought he was going to kiss her. And then the bear-like creature hugged both, lifting the two from the ground with a strange wail.

* * *

"Ah, so these are the friends..." Sehr said as he reached Cas. She looked up at her uncle, half-surprised half-angry that he knew something she didn't. The Gungan looked down at her with a kind of sad smile - if a sad smile was possible to produce for Gungans. "I'm sorry you have to discover all this only now..."

Cas shrugged and huffed. "You know, whatever dark secrets she keeps, it's _her_ shit. I'm too old to wheep over it." She angrily wiped at the tears that had started welling up in her purple eyes, and lifted her chin.

She then strode decidedly towards the group, and cleared her throat.

Tani untangled herself from the man's arms, a big smile on her lips, and her blue eyes widened as if she had just realised her daughter was standing there.

"Can somebody please explain what in _Force's_ name in happening here?"


	5. The best pilot in the galaxy

_A/N: Hello guys! Here's a chapter I was cracking up writing, you'll soon get why. ;) And HOW GOOD WAS CIVIL WAr REALLY? :D_

* * *

 _ **Disclaimer:**_ _ **I do not own Star Wars or any of its characters. I only own my OCs Cas, Tani and Sehr along with the plot of this story.**_

* * *

 **5\. The best pilot in the galaxy**

* * *

"So...you're what, my _aunt_?" Cas' voice was laced with sarcasm, and Tani, facing her in the shuttle, sighed. Her 'daughter' ignored her.

Leia - apparently it was her name - looked up at her with a small smile. "Not exactly, no."

Cas huffed. "And what's with the accent anyway? Where are you from, _Coruscant_?" she spat the name with as much venom as she could muster, although it wasn't really the planet she was angry with, but the woman sitting close who had lied to her all her life. Well, not exactly lied, but not told everything either...you get the drill.

"Alderaan, actually," Leia answered, and Cas felt the need to shut up. Alderaan. Shit. The planet that had been blown up way before she was born. She should really stop talking...

"And what exactly are _you_?" the man - Han, or whatever - asked Sehr. He had been sitting quietly for the majority of the journey, merely assessing the scene as only a scholar would.

"I'm a Gungan, Mister Solo. I ail from Naboo. I believe General Organa's mother was from there too." He nodded slowly towards Leia who nodded back politely.

Cas sighed. All these civilities were stupid. Especially when crowded in a small shuttle with uniform-clad boringers and people she should have been introduced to ages ago. "I still don't get how you met my- I mean, Tani."

Said Tani sent a dart of hurt at her through the Force, but Cas ignored it. She was angry.

Han chuckled. " _Met?_ We didn't meet, exactly. That little brat forced herself onto my ship everytime she could, and then one day she comes barging in with a sense of destiny and announces she's a Jedi!"

Tani rolled her eyes. "It did not happen like _that_..." The bear-like creature - was it called Chewie? - wailed again, and she laughed - laughed! something she had not done genuinely in ages! - "No, it had nothing to do with Luke."

"Luke..." Cas said in a whisper. "I know that name." Her eyes met her adoptive mother's and she saw sadness and hurt in there, but also fear. "You call it in your dreams sometimes."

Leia reached for Tani's hand, but both remained silent.

Cas huffed again and crossed her arms. "Right, perfect. So you call yourself my mother and I don't know _shit_ about you. This is just _perfect_." She stood, which was quite a feat in an enclosed space like this, and moved as far from the Jedi Master as she could.

She heard the man Han say something she chose to ignore. "Well well... This family is still pretty much screwed up, isn't it?"

Although the word 'family' should have ticked her off...

* * *

When they landed half an hour later, Cas forced herself through first, and erupted on a landing tarmac. She inhaled the fresh air and moved away from the shuttle as quickly as she could, avoiding the person who would certainly go after her.

She was so angry she could feel her hands pulsing with the need to crush something. With the Force. That had not happened in a long time...

Around her, dozens of X-wings in various shape were landing, and when she caught sight of one ship in particular, her curiosity got the best of her. She had seen that pilot fly, had seen the way the ship was whirling around and twirling as if no strings were attached to it. She was impressed, and wanted to see, or to meet, the pilot.

A small droid she vaguely remembered as having been in the shuttle with her passed her at great speed to hurry towards the pilot, and she followed it with her eyes, noticing the dark-skinned boy not far.

She forgot all about _him_ a second later though.

* * *

Wow. Cas could not remember the last time she had felt this flustered by a guy's face. Or overall body. She felt like a teenager with a crush all over again, but knew one thing for sure: she was going to have that man in her bed.

He was gorgeous, with jet black hair that fell into his eyes that he had dark as night, and a stubbled chiseled jaw. He looked so freakingly handsome she had to look away. Damn.

And this had to be the best pilot she had ever seen? Trouble, girl, trouble.

* * *

"I'm sorry, Miss Cas?"

She looked away from where the boy was embracing the pilot and met with the golden droid she had seen before, following that 'Leia' person. He was awfully polite, and a bore, to be perfectly honest. "What is it?" she said much more harshly than she should have.

"Uh, Princ-that is, General Organa wishes me to show you to your personal quarters. She thought it best if you did not share with Master Kenobi."

Cas snorted. "What a brilliant conclusion." She turned to look at the pilot again. The dark-skinned boy had moved away with the small droid, leaving him with his X-wing. She smirked, her old flirtatious and mischievous self making itself known again. "Wait a second."

She did not wait for the answer that came as a "Of course, Miss," and strode decidedly towards the handsome-as-hell pilot, who did not see it coming.

* * *

A pat on the shoulder, that's all it took for the man to turn and face her, and receive the open-mouthed kiss she planted on his lips as if she had done that all her life. He tasted like sweat and dust, but by Hell she did not care.

The pilot gently pushed her away, dark eyes wide with surprise. He even was cute. Damn.

Cas smiled widely, opening her eyes wide, using her best asset and her best flirting voice. "Cas Andé, pleasure to meet you."

The pilot stammered while still staring. "P-p-p- Poe Dameron, pleasure is all mine." The stunned look on his face made her laugh, and he seemed to shake out of it. "What was that for?"

"Nice piloting," she said, and she walked away.

Just like that.

Even if she did sway her hips more than usual.

Oh yes, this was worth the trouble if gorgeous morcels like _that_ were walking around in fitting orange flysuits...

* * *

 _A/N: I know Poe's reply is uncharacteristic, but Cas does not know that, does she? ;)_


	6. The Resistance

_A/N: Hello there! No idea if anyone is still interested in this, but I'm not one to not finish something, so I'll go to the finish line with this story...considering there'll be two sequels. :P_

* * *

 _ **Disclaimer:**_ _ **I do not own Star Wars or any of its characters. I only own my OCs Cas, Tani and Sehr along with the plot of this story.**_

* * *

 **6\. The Resistance**

* * *

When Cas woke up, shaken off sleep by an alarm set up by whomever was sadistic enough in this base, she started. She did not remember where she was for a moment, and the huge room she had been given the day prior was still too unfamiliar.

She assessed the tall grey panels on the wall; the white ceiling which could display stars if pushing on the right button; the table with its two solitary chairs and a bowl of fruit on top of it; two armchairs in front of a smaller table on which sat a pile of books; and two doors on the left: one leading to the bathing room, the other to the closet.

"These are usually given to emissaries from Hosnian Prime," the droid had said in a pompous tone. Cas had ignored him. This room was bigger than Uncle Sehr's whole house!

The bed, she had to admit, was more comfortable than most, and she had tested her fair share with people of the opposite sex. But when she awoke in the middle of a huge mattress, covers thrown haphazardly over her, she couldn't help but chuckle at her own luck.

A holo set up in front of the breakfast table soon informed Cas that she was needed in the commanding hall as soon as possible. So she threw her clothes on, didn't bother with brushing her messy hair, and hurried in the corridor beyond her room.

* * *

She had not been shown the whole base yet. She guessed her - Tani - had had the full tour, but she had mainly remained confined in her own quarters to enjoy solitude and a long, long, long bath. So she basically didn't know how to find her way.

That is, until she felt an arm snake around her waist and lips gently kissing her cheek from behind. She would have cursed herself for forgetting her blaster, but she soon recognized the scent of the man, and smirked.

"Miss Andé," he slurred, "you look ravishing in the morning."

Cas whirled around, surprised to see the mischievous glint in the man's dark eyes and his own smirk. Oh, so he too was a player, then? Well, the chase would only be tastier... "It is very bad to flatter, Mister Dameron."

"Oh, Commander, I'm afraid..." he proudly showed the insignia on his brown uniform, and Cas raked her eyes down his body, silently appraising the overall look of a gorgeous pilot in a uniform. She had always loved those...

"Commander Dameron," she whispered, putting enough flirt in it to set anyone lesser on fire.

He merely chuckled. "Coming to the meeting, I suppose?" She nodded, and he paced forward to lace their arms together. When Cas raised a brow at his familiarity, he laughed, and that sound, too, was alluring to the ear. Was there anything in this man that would not make Cas want him? "Well, we are basically married, now, so, no need for pretense..."

Cas huffed. "Oh, Commander, if a kiss means 'marriage' in your language, there is no wonder why there is no ring on your finger..."

Poe - she had remembered his first name and internally preferred to used it - stopped in his tracks, eyes wide with merth. "Are you implying that I'm a bad kisser?"

Cas merely raised a brow, and the man laughed again.

Oh, God, she loved that sound...

* * *

Poe brought Cas quite far from her rooms, and she tried her best to memorise the way as best she could between two minutes of flirting. The pilot was a surprising good match for her seducing skills, and after ten minutes, she was convinced he was a better trophy for her bed than any other before him.

When she started imagining what these lips of him could do to certain parts of her body, though, Cas had to stop herself, for she dangerously approached the place where her adoptive mother and her everlasting ways of entering her mind were.

The com room was dark, and crowded. Holoboards were lined at every desk, and there was a huge round table around which were now gathered several people of some importance, Cas guessed, since most of them were in uniform.

She recognized the woman and man from the day before - Leia and Han, she bitterly remembered - and her mother was standing right next to them. The dark-skinned boy immediately sought out Poe's company, while the tall bear-like thing - Chewbacca, had it been called? - moved to stand by her. Sehr was nowhere to be seen.

Leia was called 'General Organa' in this room, and as soon as the name was uttered, Cas was painfully reminded of some of the most boring of her History lessons with her Uncle. Bail Organa, she could still remember the face on the holopad, a stern and dark-haired man who held himself like a king, Senator of Alderaan, father to Princess Leia Organa, was killed when his planet was destroyed by the first Death Star...

She eyed General Organa with a more critical eye and barely listened to her babbling about that Luke again and how some map was incomplete. She was suddenly aware that this room was filled with war heroes...

* * *

When all parties present were introduced to Starkiller Base, Cas couldn't help but come closer to the table, to the holo of that huge and disfigured planet. Something rose in her, an anger she could not explain.

The dark-skinned boy, Finn she soon heard, offered to help disable the base's shield so the X-wings could destroy the thermal oscillator, apparently what kept the weapon alive.

As soon as she heard 'X-wings', Cas' head rose, and she listened more intently. Poe, on the other side of the table, said he'd take the lead for the attack. It made her smirk as an idea birthed in her mind.

She missed the look Tani sent her across the table and the wave of worry that flew off of her. She missed all of that because she saw her chance to finally do something with those skills she had and what recklessness flowed in her veins.

The last part of the meeting was spent dispatching forces, and when General Organa answered a simple question with "I'll stay here with General Kenobi," Cas crossed her mother's gaze and glared at her. 'General', seriously?

How many truths had still to be uncovered?

* * *

"Commander!" Cas shouted in the hangar as a group of pilots tended to their ships. She could recognize his, with its characteristic black colour.

Poe emerged from under the ship, face smeared with oil. It made him look cute rather than handsome and that didn't help the already unbearable attraction she felt towards the man. "Miss Andé?"

"Cas, please, I'm no lady." She smiled and put a hand on the ship. It was a beautiful ship. "I want in."

Poe raised a brow. "In? What, in the repairs?"

"Don't play daft, it doesn't become you. No, I mean in the battle. My moth- General Kenobi's Jedi shuttle is old but very efficient in combat. I already saw that on Takodana."

He did not answer for a long moment. He seemed deep in thought for a second, then, finally, "I should tell General Organa. But you won't be taking that old thing. We have a couple of X-wings that are unused for the moment. Their owners, well, passed away, for lack of a better expression."

Cas' purple eyes widened. "Are you taking me in? For real?"

He chuckled. "Why not? You're obviously a good pilot, or you'd still be stuck on Naboo, and you're no child, you surely know this is dangerous!" Her face closed. "Oh, you didn't know, perhaps?"

"No, that's not that, it's just..." she sighed, "you saying I'm no child is... ... ..."

Poe stared at her then smiled. "Talk to her before we leave, or you'll miss a chance. We make for Starkiller Base in two hours and you'll need to review your ship before."

Cas smiled. "Thank you, Poe."

His own smile softened at her use of his firstname. He disappeared back under his ship, giving her her cue to leave, and she sighed, wondering what on Earth she could talk to her mother about.

Her lies, her silences?

Whichever way, it'd hurt like a bitch...


	7. Starbirther

_A/N: And here comes the next chapter! Thanks to those who are still reading this! I'm getting excited for Rogue One at a speed that is totally inhuman by the way..._

* * *

 _ **Disclaimer:**_ _ **I do not own Star Wars or any of its characters. I only own my OCs Cas, Tani and Sehr along with the plot of this story.**_

* * *

 **7\. Starbirther**

* * *

Cas' feet felt like lead as she made her way back inside the base. She knew she basically had nothing to apologize about - her mother had lied to her for most of her life, had hidden her deepest secret, and her reaction was totally understandable. The problem was, in fact, that she had no idea how to start a conversation that she needed but dreaded at the same time...

Using her abilities - realising with a small pang of curiosity that she had not used them as often as these last few days - she felt her mother's powerful aura along with another, almost as powerful, that soon proved to be General Organa.

Both women were still in the com room with the golden droid, and were deep in conversation.

Tani felt her arrive as soon as she stepped in. Her blue eyes found hers and she raised a hand to stop Leia's words, apologizing apparently before she strode to her daughter. "You are going," she said in a voice filled with fear.

Cas sighed and avoided her eyes as best as she could before nodding. "I want to be useful."

Tani took a deep breath as if to shield herself from something, then another as if she had silenced the words she had wished to say. She gently took Cas' arm. "We need to talk."

Cas nodded, and followed her mother out. Without sparing a glance to the other woman who was, well, her Aunt? What?

* * *

Tani's quarters were even bigger than Cas', since she had actually _rooms_. She lead her to one of the armchairs and took the other, her lips pursed and hands folded in her lap.

"What do you want to know?" was her question.

Cas felt some anger rise inside her at those words, spoken so innocently. "Well, basically, everything, since I feel like I haven't been told half of what your life had been before you took me in!" Her purple eyes were full of reproach, and Tani flinched. "Why do they call you 'General'?" was the first interrogation she settled for.

"I feel like most of what I am going to tell you will not make you feel any better towards me, Cas, but I owe it to you anyway..." Tani sighed. She fidgeted with her light-sabre for a bit, then settled it on the coffee-table before her. "This sabre means that I am a Jedi. A Master, in fact. When the Second Death Star was destroyed thirty years ago, Leia, Han, Luke and me thrived to rebuild a New Republic. Luke and I, as the only two Jedis left, created a New Order of the Jedi Knights, and started a school. For a few years, there was no one who was either powerful enough or interested enough to join, but then, kids were found everywhere in the galaxy. Leia and Han's son, Ben, was one of the first." Her voice broke at that, making Cas raise a brow.

"Is it so bad?"

Tani took another deep breath. "Luke and I got married soon after we founded the school, and I bore a child. A son. Ben Skywalker. Called after my father, Obi-Wan Kenobi." Cas knew the name of her "grandfather", but had never heard of a child.

"You have a son?!" her voice was loud, but not laced with anger as much as surprise.

Tani let out a squeal of pain that was so uncharacteristical that Cas felt the urge to take her hand in comfort. She didn't, however. "Ben died when he was four. Sand fever." Her blue eyes blinked to chase away the tears. "I have another child, Cas, a daughter. When you and I left the Order, saved ourselves, my husband took her away, and I have seen neither of them since."

"What?" Cas' eyes were the size of saucers at that time. "You took _me_ in and let your daughter go?!"

Tani smiled sadly. "We saved the only two students who hadn't been killed. You, and her. Luke and I thought we'd see each other much quicker, but then the First Order rose to power and we had to hide for much longer. I lost contact with him ten years ago, three years after we settled to Naboo."

Cas' brow furrowed as she remembered vaguely something. "You were always ready for something. Told me to never truly unpack."

"Yes, until that day." Tani sighed. "I hid this from you to protect you, Cas. You've always known you aren't my biological daughter, but I raised you as my own and that does not change my love for you..."

Cas huffed. "You took me in because of the _Force_... You must be quite disappointed in my powers now."

"I am not. All Force-sensitives don't end up being Jedis, darling. You are strong with it in ways others aren't and you aren't in ways others are. As in real life."

Cas didn't answer. It was too much to process. Her mother, or the woman she had called 'Mother' all these years, had had two kids. Had abandoned one to go into hiding with her, who could only dream things and pilot well. What a mess.

She stood and made her way to the door without a look back.

It's only when she remembered that she could not come back from this ordeal that she paused and said "I don't hate you, Ma," before she left the room.

* * *

Taking care of her assigned ship took Cas less than an hour - she needed the work to empty her mind of any raging thought - and by the time she was introduced to her flightsuit, she had been acquainted with her droid for the flight, an R4 unit that had seen better days.

Poe was hanging something bright orange in her face, and it made her laugh. "Orange is not my colour, Commander."

"Alas, my dear Cas, it is regulation to wear these. I will ask General Organa to change the colour later if you wish."

She rolled her eyes and took the suit from him, turning to unbuckle her tunic's belt. When she realised he was still standing behind her, she smirked and launched a glance over her shoulder. "Would you by any chance wish to see me undress, Commander?"

He chuckled. "Just to make sure you actually know how to zip these things up. They can be a bitch first try."

Cas smirked again and pulled her tunic over her head, throwing in her trousers soon after. She was always wearing long underpants that reached above her knees and a fitting garment that hid her breasts from view, and anyway, she had never been prude.

The flightsuit was indeed a bitch to figure out once you were tucked inside. It was uncomfortable, too orange for her taste, and the many zippers made no sense.

"Let me," Poe offered knowingly, and he moved in front of her to tidy up the ensemble. He was standing closer than anyone would ever do in such circumstances, and he was smiling too brightly for it to be innocent.

Cas eyed him with a flirtatious smirk and a whispered "You know, if you really wished to see me strip, all you needed was ask."

He paused at that, then leaned in to drawl in her ear "Later then, when these orange things are not needed anymore."

Cas chuckled. "Careful, I might hold you to it." Then she eyed the other pilots around them who were climbing in their cockpits, and she added in a much more serious tone, "Be safe up there."

"Same goes to you." He smiled, then left her, all geared up, to climb inside her own ship. R4 bleeped happily to greet her, and she smiled before answering the droid.

* * *

At the end of that day, when Cas would remember the battle, she'd think that, if one day she ever had children of her own, she'd tell them all about it.

The X-wings were escorted into hyperspace by a huge ship that R4 described as Mon Calamarian, in short, made by those aliens that looked like General Akbar. Apparently, they were quite powerful.

Starkiller Base was even more hideous from up close. Its disfigurement brought another wave of anger through Cas' veins and she found herself wishing she could catch the son of a Bantha who had ordered the place be turned into a weapon. She'd have turned his face into an unrecognizable mess.

Once Finn's mission was accomplished and the outer shields were down, Poe, who was the Team Leader for this operation, directed the dozens of ships into atmosphere, where ion canons and plasma ones soon started firing copiously at them. Cas was ordered to lure the TIE fighters away from the oscillator they were to destroy, and she pulled out with a bunch of others.

She had thought she was not a bad pilot before. Now she knew she had perhaps overestimated her skills. She dealt minor blasts from TIEs in moves that anyone else easily moved out from, and her first two kills were so messy she almost slapped herself.

" _We're not doing any damage_ " someone complained about a few moments after their initial attack.

" _Keep giving them all you've got,_ " Poe answered calmly. From that afar, Cas could not see him flying, but she remembered his style from Takodana, and vouched to do her best to mirror it.

When she got awfully close to a canon that was a second from shooting her in the face, Cas realised the Force was actually something she ought to use. She remembered Tani's teachings, somehow, well, some of them, and meditation, peace-keeping, was one she had used during the worst nights of her life.

So she closed her eyes for a second and emptied her mind of any parasite thought. Her hands moved of their own accord, and the ship upturned to avoid a kamikaze TIE.

After her inner revelation, Cas was much more prudent, and when the first tremors of an explosion over at the oscillator was heard and Poe called everyone in, she felt at least a notch more content.

That is, until a TIE effectively sneaked up on her just as she heard Poe was going in - literally _in_ \- and damaged her right lower wing beyond repair.

"I need to pull out!" she yelled inside her com, and she flew out of the scene, and out of the atmosphere just as another, bigger, tremor, overtook the planet.

Shame.

 _I was not that useful after all..._

* * *

" _All ships retreat! The planet's collapsing!_ " Announced Red Leader, and Cas directed her ship to witness the way Starkiller Base was getting eaten from the inside, as if the planet itself had had enough of those heresies.

She searched for a black X-wing, thinking she might had missed it, until she saw it emerge, a freighter following close. And just as she turned her ship around to exit the place, behind her, a planet collapsed and gave birth to a star...

Shame.

Uselessness...

No peace of mind for her...


	8. One victory

_A/N: I thoroughly apologize for the delay in posting. I was persuaded to have updated both my stories at the same time. Obviously I haven't. But to be honest I'm not even sure anyone is reading this anymore... Bear with my brooding for a sec. :P_

* * *

 _ **Disclaimer:**_ _ **I do not own Star Wars or any of its characters. I only own my OCs Cas, Tani and Sehr along with the plot of this story.**_

* * *

 **8\. One victory**

* * *

During the whole trip back to D'Qar, Cas brooded. She felt so stupid for almost getting killed it was eating at her. That combined to the fact that she hadn't even harmed that many enemies made her feel like a petulant child trying on a holo-game for the first time.

Tani could say what she wished: Cas was not strong with the Force, and she definitely was not that good with piloting...

The atmosphere was strangely torn between two moods when she landed on the green planet: most of the pilots and members of the Resistance were celebrating their victory over the deadliest weapon the First Order possessed; but a few, including General Organa, who was standing in front of everyone, her signature in the Force exetremely sad, looked like they were in mourning.

The freighter Cas had followed revealed the bear-like guy - Chewbacca, she tried to remind herself - who was carrying an unconscious and apparently badly wounded Finn. A slender and tall girl about Cas' age was following, her cheeks stained with tears, and Cas was surprised to see her hug the General familiarly.

"Han Solo is dead. Kylo Ren killed him," a voice explained behind her, and Cas whirled around, a smile forming almost without her consent on her lips.

"Nice play up there, Dameron."

Poe's face was smeared with smoke but his dark eyes were glinting and he smiled back. "Thanks. I heard you got pretty roughed up."

Cas grunted. "Please, don't talk about that. I'm enough shamed as it is." He tilted his head to the side but did not question her further, his eyes widening a bit as she took a pace closer to him and started looking like a bird of prey. "What about taking those flightsuits off then?"

Poe huffed in surprise, as if he had not expected her to remind him of that, and then he shook his head. "Not right now, I'm afraid. We need to be debriefed first, the other Commanders and I. Go freshen up, there'll surely be an event of some kind later on."

When he walked away from her, Cas cursed under her breath. How many times would this man elude her? She had never been refused before, especially not after the kind of flirting they did that morning, and it puzzled her that Poe Dameron could actually resist her.

Even worse: that he could dismiss her as if she was a little girl.

* * *

Cas did what Poe had advised: she took a long shower using a strange liquid soap that smelled really fragrant and that left a nice scent on her hair afterwards, and put on something more...her, than the horrible orange garment. Said garment ended its voyage in the laundry chute without a second thought.

She had been about to try and find the restaurant when Cas was assaulted with a wave of feelings not her own. It was so strong that she had to lean on a chair not to topple over. She was suddenly overwhelmed by a sadness that encompassed everything, that rippled in waves of even bigger sadness, and she could almost hear the ghost of screams in her ears.

She may not have known it, but Cas was very strong when it came to opening her mind to other Force-sensitives. Her mother, the only one she had ever known, had always been good at hiding her own feelings, so Cas did not know how much she actually broadcasted. But it was in that second that she realised the feelings that were washing over her were Tani's.

She hurried to her mother's rooms, not really understanding how she got there, eyes closed and wincing in pain, but when she opened the door and it slid open, the sight she was given frightened her.

Tani was hurled up at the foot of one armchair, the rest of the room shattered and broken. Her bed was upturned in one corner, sheets scattered and wrinkled; the table was nothing but a pile of wood; and the very armchair she was leaning on had been scratched to death. Tani herself was sobbing uncontrolably, muttering things Cas did not get under her breath.

The young woman had never seen her mother in such a state, and she did what she thought was best in that moment: she went to her, and wrapped her arms around her, squeezing hard until Tani leaned in her embrace, breath evening.

* * *

Through their open bond, Cas started catching glimpses of a past that included a much younger Han, a more ginger Tani, and a man Cas did not know but who seemed familiar. He had a youthful face and kind blue eyes.

 _A first meeting on a blue planet, the freighter she had seen in an even worse state than now, Chewbacca mending something as Han flirted with her._

 _"Your father?" an old man, feeling utterly familiar, eyes wide, and the younger man, grinning from ear to ear as he shook hands with her._

 _"I missed you baby," Han was saying from his pilot seat. He seemed tired but happy._

 _"I have a bad feeling about this," a smile and a widening of eyes as a younger Leia walked up the aisle on the younger man's arm, clad in a beautiful cream dress, her hair up and plaited with flowers._

 _A room where Leia was lying on a bed, a small baby in her arms, his dark hair an already messy bunch on his head. Han leaning above them, an awed look on his face. The tug of a hand in hers._

* * *

Cas opened her eyes when the onslaught of memories quietened down. Tani was calmer, still clutching onto her for dear life, but she was not sobbing anymore, and the aura around her was less murderous.

So she tentatively asked, "Are you okay, Ma?"

Tani lifted her red-rimmed blue eyes to her, and smiled sadly. "He was like my brother, darling. We met when I was fourteen, and he taught me everything he knew..."

Cas smiled. She knew this was one of the moments when tragedy gave way to grief and then grief to mourning. She had to help her mother through that. So she just asked, "Tell me."

And so Tani did.

* * *

When Cas left Tani, she was safely tucked in bed, a kiss on her cheek and a sleeping draught in the glass beside her.

She made her way to the main hangar, seeking peace in a moment with her ship, when she was almost tripped by a small white and orange droid she soon recognized. It - was it even a he or a she? - stopped and seemingly looked at her, bleeping faintly. It kept tilting its...head, towards the corridor, then back at her.

"Do you want me to follow you, little thing?" she asked, and when it bleeped happily, she did follow.

She did not remember the droid's name, and it mattered not, for its owner soon shouted it over the hangar. "BB-8!" Poe said, and hurried towards them, the young woman Cas had seen before high on his heels.

Cas plastered her best smile on her lips, but internally, she was fuming. What was he doing with this woman here? Was there anything between them? Was it for her that he kept rejecting her? "Hello."

Poe smiled warmly at her, a brow rising as if he had detected her sour mood, then he pointed at the younger woman. "Cas Andé, this is Rey. Finn's friend from Jakku. She's a Jedi, or soon to be anyway. She defeated Kylo Ren earlier."

Rey was blushing, and was behaving like a little and lost girl. Cas noticed the familiar glint of a light-saber at her belt, and she smiled. "You should meet my mother then. She's a Jedi too."

Rey's eyes widened but she smiled, a big, toothy smile that was overly cute. "Thanks!" She turned to Poe. "I should check on Finn. I'll see you later."

Cas watched her leave, mood lifted. The girl seemed infatuated with the black-skinned boy, and she was obviously no threat to her anyway. She was too young, too innocent, for that.

* * *

"Tell me, Miss Andé, is that jealousy I saw earlier?" Poe then said, her attention going back to him and his smirk. "I am surprised."

Cas rolled her eyes. "Do not flatter yourself, Commander, your head is already too big for that."

He laughed, the sound she had started to like so very much, then outstretched his hand over for her to take. "I was about to grab something to eat. Join me?"

Cas smirked and took his offered hand. "Don't think this is a date. It isn't."

He laughed again, and she felt herself blush.


	9. Master Luke

_A/N: Hello everyone! Great news: I have finished writing this story, so you won't be left alone until the end, and obvivously, I'll come back to it after Episode VIII has aired. ;)_

* * *

 _ **Disclaimer:**_ _ **I do not own Star Wars or any of its characters. I only own my OCs Cas, Tani and Sehr along with the plot of this story.**_

* * *

 **9\. Master Luke**

* * *

Days streched into a week after the fall of Starkiller Base, and finally came the time for Rey to go in search for the missing Luke Skywalker. Tani's husband.

Tani herself had tried to convince Leia to let her go with, but the general had been adamant: she was too valuable, and the last Jedis should be as scarsely seen together as possible. A third extinction of their Order would not do.

Cas had been privy to the councils two or three times by then, and if she didn't voice her thoughts, they still were strong. If Leia wanted to keep the Jedi safe, why send one of them to find Luke? It made no sense.

But then, she suspected another motive behind all this. Rey was always locked away in the medical bay, and on the day she effectively left, no one but Leia saw her off. Cas wasn't even sure her mother had met her.

There was something strange working on D'Qar, and she wanted to know what.

* * *

After she had let it slip during their "non-date" that she was rather ashamed of her performances during the Battle of Starkiller Base, Poe had agreed to teach Cas the ways of piloting an X-wing. It was, allegedly, much different from piloting a speeder.

D'Qar possessed one of the few simulators left in the galaxy. Once, Poe had said, most of them were on Corellia, but by then, they had all been destroyed. To his knowledge, the other two were on Kuat. Not that it mattered.

On the morning after Rey left, Cas went to the simulator for her daily lesson. Poe was an early riser, she had quickly understood, and he preferred to teach her early so the newbies could have their go after her.

That day, she was reliving the Battle of Endor. It was the third time she did that particular simulation, and it was the third time she got bested by a cannon blast a second before she entered the Death Star.

She cursed loud enough to be heard by the entire hangar, and when her instructor chuckled behind her and entered the sim cockpit, she took the sim-helmet off. "I'm rubbish."

"No, you're not," he said with a knowing smile, "you just have to learn how to use those split wings to your best advantage."

Cas was staring in his handsome face, as she had done awfully often lately, and blanked. His dark eyes, his smile, it was far too much. "Show me," she said.

Poe smiled this time, a genuine and innocent smile that sent butterflies to her stomach. He leaned closer and gestured for her to put on the helmet again. She was once again alone in her X-wing, a looming moon that was not one getting closer. Except this time, gentle fingers closed around hers and directed the ship until the bleeding cannon was a memory. It had been a gentle nudge, a change of direction of merely meters, but it had made a difference.

Cas was so happy she ripped the helmet off and threw herself at Poe next to her, arms going around his neck to pull him into a hug. Their position was awkward, but he was embracing her back, laughing that lovely laugh of his.

"Told you, all it needs is love." At his words, Cas pulled away slightly, staring into his eyes until the tension rose between them again. Suddenly the sim-cockpit was small, too small.

Poe's eyes flickered down to her lips and Cas' did the same, and they started leaning in, time standing still, until...

"Don't make out in the simulator!"

Cas yelped and turned sharply to the voice, glaring into Jessika Pava's smirking face as she stood there with a youngling. Poe merely blushed and helped her out of the seat. "Sorry Jess."

"Mmh..." the other woman said knowingly. Cas passed her, annoyed at the interruption when she was _finally_ getting results, but when Poe and her were back in the open of the hangar, they both laughed, and it was as if nothing had happened at all...

* * *

"Miss Andé?"

Cas had been making alterations to her X-wing and erupted from under it, face smudged with oil. "What is it?"

"General Organa and General Kenobi would like to see you, Miss. In the com room."

She nodded sharply and wiped her hands, ignoring her face, before she followed the lad out and back into the base.

It had been three weeks now since Rey had left. Cas had had a couple more lessons with Poe until Finn's clearance from the infirmary had pulled them apart a notch. The former Stormtrooper wanted to learn how to pilot as well, except he was starting from scratch. And he trusted no one else to teach him than Poe.

Cas had heard about their peculiar meeting. She had smiled softly when she was told, for it was thus that the greatest friendships were made.

She was surprised to see her Uncle Sehr in the com room. He had been buried under hundreds of books since their arrival, having been appointed Librarian by Leia after their own scholar had died a few months prior. The Gungan acknowledged her presence with a pat on her shoulder and a smile - if amphibians could properly smile, that is.

"Ah, Cas, thank you for coming," Leia said after a moment. She had been standing, and talking, with Tani and another general Cas did not remember the name of. "Who's still missing? Ah, Dameron."

Cas' heart did a flip-flop when said Commander arrived, Finn following, both panting as if they had run to the meeting. He was wearing his uniform, and she had to stop herself from gaping.

* * *

"Good, now everyone's there, we can start." Leia had grown more practical than ever, less human, Cas thought, since her husband's death. But then, it would do the same to most people... "We had word from Chewbacca this morning. Rey found Luke Skywalker. They are expected here in a week's time."

"A week?" Finn said. "But...if it took her three weeks to reach him-"

Leia was smirking. "The solar system Luke was hiding in is unpenetrable for radio waves. Or any scanner, for that matter. They found him about a week ago, and could only contact us today."

Finn nodded, having understood. Cas then asked, "What would you have us do, General?" There was an edge of bitterness in her voice, because she really did not want to prepare anything special for the return of a man who had robbed a mother of her child, but anywho...

Leia sighed. "Not much, I only wanted to warn each of you that it is still possible that the First Order catches one or any of our communications and tried something to stop Luke from reaching us."

"A diversion, or an escort?" Poe asked, staring at his hands as if it was the most natural thing to ask.

"That is for you to decide, Commander."

He nodded gravely. "I'll require a squad. Including Cas, if you may."

Tani raised her head, going all protective all of a sudden. "Why?" It brought a smile and a pang of affection to Cas' heart.

"She's Force-sensitive. If we can make Snoke, or that brat Ren for that matter - sorry General - think she is either Rey or Skywalker, then it can give them time. We can go to Yavin, pretend to gather some things at the Temple."

Tani's lips were in a thin line. "It won't work. Cas is strong, but her control over her power is still weak. I'll come." Leia was about to refuse but the Master turned to her, blue eyes filled with determination. "I won't change my mind."

The General nodded. "Then it's decided. Your party will leave for Yavin in four days time. Get everyone ready."

Poe nodded, then launched a small smile to Cas, who answered in kind. She was happy he had required her presence. That meant he trusted her skills as a pilot now, and even more, that he thought her useful to the Resistance...

She was closer to falling in love with the man as she had ever been...


	10. The Temple

_A/N: Hello back readers! Sorry for the slight delay, moving out and in took a toll on my social life... :( But I am back for the next few chapters that are left in this story! :)_

* * *

 _ **Disclaimer:**_ _ **I do not own Star Wars or any of its characters. I only own my OCs Cas, Tani and Sehr along with the plot of this story.**_

* * *

 **10\. The Temple**

* * *

Cas had been sitting in this small room for hours, her legs painfully folded in front of her, her eyes closes, her breath even. She was bored. She did not really know what her mother, sat in the same position in front of her, was waiting for.

She peaked once, then twice, and her heart quickened its pace in a very obvious way for the meditating Jedi who sighed, then opened her own eyes.

"You are not trying, Cas."

The young woman shrugged. "I don't know what you're waiting for. Should I fall asleep? Hear something, see something?"

"The Force is strong within you, Cas, whether you like it or not. You have had visions before, but to conjure them needs practice, and more than that...disciplin." Cas chuckled, and Tani sighed. "I am trying to make you forget where we are headed."

"Make me forget or you?" she answered bitterly. The blow touched its aim, and Tani's cheeks lost all colours. And Cas felt bad. "I'm sorry, it wa cruel of me to say that."

"Yes, it was." her mother answered in a small voice before standing. "I'll go see where we are at. Stay here, and try to focus."

Cas, who had been about to stand as well, to escape this small room, fell back onto the rug, sighed deeply, then thought that maybe this whole thing would indeed make her forget the passing of time.

She closed her eyes, and tried to focus on her breathing, and the slowing beating of her heart...

* * *

 _It was raining. Badly._

 _Cas was standing in front of a darkened building, one she could barely make out the outline of. It seemed built out of ruins._

 _Something was buzzing nearby, and it made her scared. She had recognized the sound, and the foreboding it brought with it._

 _Her eyes searched for the light-sabre admist the water that poured down her face, and there they were._

 _Bodies._

 _Slouched down in the mud, burnt, broken, faces twisted in postures of fear._

 _She screamed._

 _"Don't be afraid, little mouse," a dark and deep voice said close to her._

 _She turned around and her eyes widened. There was standing a young man she knew very well. She remembered vividly the smile that would sometimes adorn in full lips when they were playing; she remembered thinking he was very pretty; she remembered asking him to marry her someday, and the laugh that had ensued._

 _In his hand was the dreaded light-sabre, but it was not the green or blue colour she was used to, no, it was the colour of the blood it had just shed._

 _She looked back up, and asked "Why, Ben?"_

 _He smiled, but it was twisted, mad. "For power."_

 _He raised his arm, and Cas did the same in pure instinct, as if flesh and bones could stop what was about to come down on her._

 _And she woke up._

* * *

She must have screamed when she was under, for her mother and Jessika were both leaning over where she was lying on the floor, with Poe watching worriedly from the door.

"What happened?" her mother asked in a whisper.

Cas' purple eyes were swallowed by the black of their pupils, fear overwhelming her still. "I knew him!" she blurted out. "The man who killed them. Ben Solo."

Poe growled from his spot, and she looked at him in surprise. "He's called _Kylo Ren_ nowadays," and he left. Jessika followed.

"Ma?" Cas asked in a small voice, "was it true? What I saw?"

Tani sighed. "That you knew him? Yes, what pupil of ours did not? If I recall, you had quite the crush on him, but then again, most girls did." She chuckled, but the laugh was laced with sadness. "He was also my nephew. And now he has killed his own father."

Cas sat up, and her hand went to her mother's shoulder. "Why was I shown this?"

Tani smiled sadly again. "Everything has a meaning, darling. Maybe you were meant to remember. To recognize him. Maybe you are fated to meet again."

Cas nodded once. "Then I'll be ready to receive him."


	11. Memories

_A/N: Hello hello! I'm back with this short chapter that foretells the end of this episode... Next chapter will be the last until Episode VIII is out, so feast your eyes! :D_

* * *

 _ **Disclaimer:**_ _ **I do not own Star Wars or any of its characters. I only own my OCs Cas, Tani and Sehr along with the plot of this story.**_

* * *

 **11\. Memories**

* * *

Yavin IV was a green planet. A lot like Takodana, although here, there was a strange pulsing in the air, something that meant trouble and maybe something else.

As soon as Cas stepped down the starship's ramp, she breathed in this charged air and felt her skin prickle.

Her mother answered a silent question. "Yavin IV is a planet filled with the Force. Every tree, every animal, every drop of water, is full of it. It can be overwhelming at first. Breathe evenly, and it'll pass." She said that while calling her sabre to her hand, and the silver hilt flew from her belt to her open palm, Cas watching in awe.

Tani Kenobi had not stepped onto this earth for an age, and yet even she could realise the balance in the Force was somehow disturbed. Something was wrong, or had been wrong, and her instincts kicked in.

She lead the group that had followed her here through the maze of trees, cutting a path through the vines with her blue blade that drew scary patterns on her worn-out features.

Behind her, her daughter in everything but blood was following, a blaster clutched in her own hand, still painfully unaware of her own value.

"Careful. There are quicksands nearby," she warned in a growl.

Cas gasped, but Tani did not know if it was at the prospect of being swallowed by the ground or because of her tone. She would have bet on the second option.

* * *

To be truthful, both options did not particularly appeal to Cas. First, she would get dirty; second, her mother had now turned into some sort of warrior-mode that was frightful to behold.

Poe caught up with her as she left the Jedi Master stride a little ahead of her. "Are you alright?"

She shook her head. "This planet is weird. My mother is weird. The Universe is weird."

He chuckled lightly and patted her shoulder. "Don't worry, if you get stuck in quicksand, I'll drag you back up."

And suddenly the prospect of being dirty was not so unappealing...

* * *

They trekked through the forest for about three hours until they erupted in a huge open space covered in grass that had grown in angry patches here and there over the years. The path that led to the building beyond, that Cas strangely remembered being made of pebbles, was nowhere to be seen.

Tani stepped gingerly into the clearing, her sabre still lit, and the stance she had taken while walking made the soldiers behind her raised their guns and attention to their surroundings.

It made Cas understand something else as soon as she realised that what she had thought was part of the forest was instead the Temple covered in moss that had swallowed its walls.

"It happened here." she said, and her voice carried to her mother who whirled around to face her. She nodded once, and Cas felt tears come up to her eyes, though she refused to cry.

It had happened there. The massacre. Her vision. Kylo Ren.

She had almost died right there.

Her friends, no doubt, had been killed just there, their bodies rotting under their feet right now.

She was going to be sick.

"Commander Dameron, I'll be grateful if you could carry my daughter. She is going to feel faint for a few moments still." She was mildly aware of a pair of arms scooping her off the ground, for she had squeezed her eyes closed to try and forget the thoughts that had invaded her mind.

* * *

Indeed she felt more and more faint as the minutes passed. The feeling of stepping onto comrades and childhood friends was ever growing, as was that strange pulsing she had first felt upon their arrival.

It grew stronger as they approched the Temple.

When Poe stepped onto the first stone step of the stairs, Cas gasped audibly, and her eyes flew open, wide with fear and something else.

"We need to leave," she said.

At the same moment, the cocking of guns from inside the Temple made everyone aware of the trap they had just stepped into.

Except perhaps Tani who had expected it since they had arrived.

* * *

The Stormtroopers seemed somehow surprised to see the group and mostly their leader, and the Resistance members then knew that their plan had worked.

"Master Tani Kenobi," a masked Trooper said, "you are under arrest on orders of Supreme Leader Snoke. You and your Padawan are to be brought before him for questioning."

"Is that so?" Tani said, and the smirk on her face would have been familiar to anyone who had once met the infamous Obi-Wan Kenobi, her father. Her blue blade shone in the faint darkness of the room they had entered, and she did not lower it.

Behind her, the soldiers, Jessika and Poe - still carrying Cas - had gathered in a circle, their guns and pikes held high, fear absent from their faces.

Cas was feeling that pulse growing still in her heart of hearts, and she let herself slide down from Poe's arm to come and stand next to her mother.

It had never been so easy to reach her mind than at that moment. " _What is that power I feel, Ma?_ "

" _It's the Force, my love, this Temple was built around its use. We will be invincible in its walls._ " She raised her sabre higher, and Cas took it as her cue.

She would not wonder who had fired first, later that day, because it was pointless.

What she'd remember, thought, was the fearsome sight of her mother whirling around with her blade, looking younger than ever, drawing a path of death among the troops gathered to stop them.

What she'd also remember, was that her own aim had never been truer than in these walls. And that not once was she grazed by the bolt of a Trooper.

* * *

It was all over in a matter of minutes, and when the satisfying hiss of a sabre being switched off echoed into the empty room, Cas knew they were safe.

Tani's breath evened, and she looked at her daughter, outstretching a hand. "Come, I have somewhere I'd like to show you."

And she followed without a second thought.

Tani's signature in the Force told Cas that the Master was both elated to be back to these walls and destroyed by its magnificence eaten away by time and unuse. She caressed wooden doors that had been gnawed at by whatever creature, sighed at sculptures fallen and broken on the ground, and smiled at the glass dome that somehow still stood strong, although not as clean as it had been.

As they strode through corridors and staircases, Cas' memories started to unfold. She remembered that staircase and the broken stair at the top of it; she realised she had already seen that ugly statue of a unidentified creature everyone called 'Momo'; she laughed when she saw the window sill they all used to jump from when they wanted to avoid punition. It used to give right onto a fountain that was by then dried out.

Cas' hand squeezed her mother's on many occasions, and Tani's signature progressively began to push away the grief, and to give way to fond memories as well.

When they entered the small room that was there again covered in moss, though, Cas' heart stopped beating.

* * *

The cot would not have given it away. The mechanics parts, now all rotten, gathered in a box beside the door, would have.

"This was my room," she whispered, and did not need confirmation.

She remembered now. The games, the days she spent, punished, forced to meditate until the Master came to release her. The holobooks about fairytales and Jedis and legends. One of them looked unharmed enough for her to gently scoop it off the broken bookshelf and place it in her satchel.

"We did not have time to take much back then," Tani said, a small smile on her lips. "Take what you want. I have to go...somewhere."

Cas did not need to ask, for she knew. Her daughter's room. She nodded, and Tani left silently, hands clenched into fists.

She salvaged what she could. A book there, a pair of shoes here, even a toy light-sabre, long dead, but that still felt good in her hand. Must have been built for her.

Tani found her about an hour later, sitting on the cot of moss, staring through what was left of the window. Something peaceful emitted from Cas' aura, and her Master-mother was suddenly aware that all Cas had needed all these years, was closure.

Maybe so did she.

"Darling, she ought to go. Our mission is done. The First Order came here to stop us, and was mistaken. Luke should be safe."

Cas stood, smiling, and added a small "And your daughter with him" that made Tani's blue eyes lit up with hope.


	12. Reunited

_A/N: Hello everyone! I'm back with the last chapter of this part of the saga, with a promise to be back in 2017 with another one! ;)_

* * *

 _ **Disclaimer:**_ _ **I do not own Star Wars or any of its characters. I only own my OCs Cas, Tani and Sehr along with the plot of this story.**_

* * *

 **12\. Reunited**

* * *

The journey back from Yavin IV to D'Qar did not seem as long to Cas, mostly because she spent most of it in her quarters meditating with Tani.

She had somehow made her peace with her abilities, recognizing those she had and those she lacked. As her mother endlessly told her, she was rather good at opening her mind to visions and to others. So she put those gifts to good use.

She had recovered a lot of memories that her subsconcious had shunned away from her mind because of the trauma, and she had to admit that her childhood had been as wild as her teenagehood had been...

A few hours before landing, though, she found herself in the cockpit with Poe. The commander also seemed more calm, more peaceful, and Cas did not know why.

* * *

"Is everything alright, Commander?" she asked playfully, although that side of her seemed to give way to something more tender in the man's presence. Bollocks.

Poe's dark eyes met hers and he smiled. "We're going home, and now we have not one but possibly five Force-sensitives on our side. I'd say the future looks bright for us and dark for the First Order."

Cas nodded, but her gaze darkened. "Poe, can I ask you something?" He hummed his assent. "Would you teach me how to fight? I mean, other than shooting at people? I'm not good with a light-sabre and will never be, but I want to meet this Kylo Ren and survive enough to scar his pretty face into mush."

Poe's eyes widened, then he chuckled. "True that your aim is not as good than in your cockpit, Soldier." He laughed harder when she gently punched his arm. "I'll teach you. Finn can also lend a hand. He's quite good too." He was talking fondly of the former Trooper, and Cas felt somehow jealous of the way he spoke of Finn.

Jealousy was set aside by his next sentence.

"Will you go onto another date with me, Miss Andé?"

She laughed high and clear, and answered "No way!" before nodding silently. _Hell yes_ , should have been her answer.

* * *

D'Qar was busy as always when they landed, except for the slight addition of a well-known freighter on the landing strip.

Tani and Cas, who had been standing in front of the ramp to exit the ship first, held hands, the Jedi Master feeling more apprehensive than she had ever been.

"What if she does not remember me?" she kept asking.

"She will," Cas kept replying.

Tani almost ran down the ramp as the door opened, but her adoptive daughter kept her grounded, and they made their way to the com centre calmly, if a little in fear of what was to come.

On their way in, they crossed C-3PO's path. "Oh, happy day!" he was babbling to himself, "Master Luke has come back to save me!" Cas laughed at that. Tani didn't.

* * *

They entered the room in silence.

It was not as crowded as Cas would have thought, but it was filled with the aura of the two people who were embracing. So far, she could not see a young woman about her age anywhere.

The man hugging General Organa had long greying hair that was messy beyond recognition, and when he turned around to face his wife, she also saw a wild beard, and a mechanic hand on his right side.

The blue eyes staring at Tani were familiar to Cas, almost painfully so, and she had to admit that Master Luke Skywalker had perhaps always been more impressive in stature than his wife.

Who did not move an inch as she stared back at her lost half.

They stared, and stared, and stared, until Luke moved aside, revealing a slender figure behind him. He cleared his throat, and the figure came into the light.

Cas' eyes would have popped out of her skull so much Tani's daughter looked familiar, but now is not the time to know who she was.

For Tani Kenobi, in all her grace and wisdom, broke into undignified tears when she ran to hug her lost child...

* * *

 _A/N: Aaaaaand I will take this opportunity to clarify a few of the choices I made for this story and the way they'll evolve with the Episodes if need be:_

 _\- As much as I am personally convinced that Rey is Luke's daughter, we have no proof as of yet, which is why Luke and Tani's daughter looks familiar to Cas, but it could be Rey since she has not seen her in a while, which could mean that the desert-orphan has changed during her adventure; but which also could mean that Cas and their daughter knew each other at the Temple;_

 _\- I chose Poe to ask Cas out again because there again we have no proof that he is gay, so I am making him bisexual in my head until further proof that he and Finn might hit it off._

 _Please review before this year-long hiatus! :)_


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